Durham Women FC are delighted to announce the signing of Dutch forward Iris Achterhof.

The energetic and clinical striker becomes the Wildcats’ second addition of the close season – following in the footsteps of midfielder Megan Bell.

A former Dutch youth international, the 22-year-old came through the ranks at Heerenveen in her homeland and played alongside Arsenal forward Vivianne Miedema.

Achterhof makes the move to the North East following four years at Old Dominion University in the the USA.

There, the striker picked up a number of individual honours thanks to a number of goal-laden seasons – while she was also a teammate of Durham defender Kathryn Hill.

And she is now looking forward to a fresh challenge at New Ferens Park, and will combine her playing commitments with studying for a Masters Degree at Durham University as part of our postgraduate scholarship programme.

Speaking after putting pen to paper, Achterhof said: “It feels really good to be here.

“I’m excited to start with the team and start playing.

“My four years in America were really good, I learned a lot, but it was time to move to the next stage and I think this is the one.

“Being able to study a masters degree alongside playing is huge for me.

“The main thing for me was always school and my first thought was I want to stay in school as long as I can – so this is perfect for me.”

Manager Lee Sanders was delighted to net the forward – and revealed what he thinks the striker will bring moving forward.

He said: “I’m really pleased to have signed Iris.

“The reports I had from her former coach were impressive, she’s technically very good as we’ve seen already, and her work rate matches that.

“She’s quick and will offer something we perhaps haven’t had before.”